


The Feelings of Others

by BunnyMask



Series: Mystic Haven: The Magic Tower [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Aqua (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Gen, Namine is a witch, Namine is six, Naminé & Roxas (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Roxas is a manticore, Roxas is six, Sora is a secret, Sora is six, Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Vanitas is a batfolk, Vanitas is twelve, Ventus is a birdfolk, Ventus is twelve, Xion is technically six, but like she's a living puppet so...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 08:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24846880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyMask/pseuds/BunnyMask
Summary: Sora isn't afraid of the Ventus and Vanitas, definitely not. Especially Ventus, not scared of him at all. There's absolutely nothing unsettling about him.In which Sora can tune into everyone's emotional channels and Ventus is just static.
Relationships: Roxas & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Sora & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Mystic Haven: The Magic Tower [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1522583
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49
Collections: Mystic Haven





	The Feelings of Others

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so you may have read this story before when it was called "Catch the Light". This is an improved version of the story, that expands upon the characters and concepts, so it's still worth a read. (And honestly, I like this version so much better.)
> 
> This follows [ And So Their New Life Begins ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21112775/chapters/50239217) which is about Ventus's and Vanitas's arrival at the Magic Tower.

The smell of meat cooking danced through Sora's room and tapped his nose. He was out of bed before his eyes were even open. He followed the smell until he crashed face-first into the door. He opened his eyes. He frowned. He'd cracked the door again. The adults weren't going to be happy about it. 

Sora made his way down the stairs, hopping on each one. He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into whatever meat Terra was cooking. It all smelled the same to Sora, but Roxas insisted they were distinct.

Sora stopped in front of the kitchen. He peeked in. Breakfast wasn't ready yet. Maybe if he pouted enough Terra would give him a couple of pieces before breakfast. Yea! That usually worked.

Sora lifted his foot to take a step into the kitchen, but froze as Ventus passed by. He looked at the doorway. Sora hid.

How could he forget about Ventus? Ever since he'd moved into the tower, Ventus was always helping Terra. Sora peeked into the kitchen. It wasn't that he didn't like Ventus, he was just kind of scary.

Sometimes when Sora looked at people, he got a feeling from them. Master Yen Sid was kind of scary, but he always wanted Sora to be safe. Master Aqua was warm, but she kept a lot hidden. Terra was warm and protective. Ventus was… well, he was… Sora didn't get much from him, except one time.

When Ventus had arrived, during their first dinner together, Sora had bumped into him. Ventus spilled juice everywhere. Ventus totally freaked out. He kept apologizing over and over again, his voice was quiet, but the feeling from him was like screaming and shaking tables. Sora hadn't ever felt anything like it, not even from Naminé and Roxas.

"Did you need something?"

Sora looked up to see Ventus hovering over him.

Sora ran away.

It wasn't because he was scared! He just hadn't brushed his teeth yet. Master Aqua told him it was important to do that every morning if he wanted to keep his teeth healthy. 

He slammed into someone. They both hit the ground with a thud. It was quiet for a moment.

Anger: Hot like the stove and bright like the summer sun.

"Watch it, brat!" Vanitas jumped up.

Sora burst into tears.

The fire went out.

"Hey!" He sounded mad, but he felt jittery. "Stop that!"

"Hey, now," Aqua floated in. The jitters slowed to a ripples. "It's okay," she wiped tears from Sora's face with her thumb. She looked back at Vanitas. The jitters kicked up at high speed. "You just startled each other."

Calm: a still pond.

Sora looked at Vanitas. He crossed his arms.

"Sorry," his voice was low. He meant it.

"It's okay!" Sora smiled. He grabbed Vanitas's hand, "Don't be scared anymore, okay?"

Vanitas snatched away. "I wasn't!" Not true. He sprouted his wings and flew away.

Aqua smiled; warmth, love, "Give him some time."

Sora nodded. He made his way upstairs. 

Roxas, Xion, and Naminé were already in the bathroom. They were standing on a stool in front of the sink, brushing their teeth.

"G' morning, Sora," Xion smiled with a mouth full of toothpaste. 

"Good morning." Sora took his spot on the stool. Like every morning, he was next to Roxas. 

Roxas looked at him. "You're late."

"Am not." Sora picked up his toothbrush.

Roxas leaned a little closer and sniffed him, "You were in the kitchen."

Sora tried not to look at him as he finished brushing. "Not exactly."

"You were trying to sneak meat again!"

Busted.

"Oooh," Xion leaned on the counter.

Sora put his toothbrush away. "Well if Roxas didn't always eat it all I wouldn't have to."

"I don't eat it all!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

Roxas tackled him, full of energy but with no intention of really hurting him. They started wrestling. Sora was going to pin him this time. He almost had him but Roxas flipped Sora over so quickly that Sora banged his head on the floor.

Sora winced. That had actually hurt, but Sora only ever really got hurt playing with Roxas, and even when he did it wasn't very often. And even those few times barely hurt. None of that stopped Roxas from snatching away.

Just like Vanitas had, Roxas felt like jitters.

"I'm not hurt!" Sora sat up.

Roxas didn't look directly at Sora. "Yea."

He felt bad. He felt so bad! Sora felt like he was underwater. Ever since the accident--

"Sora, Roxas," Master Aqua stood in the doorway, "What did we say about roughhousing in the morning?"

They both stood up, "Not to…"

She shook her head, "Finish getting ready, breakfast is done."

"Okay…"

When they were finished, the four of them raced to the dining room. Sora was in the lead. He ran through the doorway and crashed into Ventus.

"Good morning, Sora." Ventus looked down at him.

Sora froze under his green gaze. Roxas ran into Sora, then Xion into Roxas and then Naminé into Xion.

"Sora," Roxas growled.

"Sorry!" Sora ran around Ventus.

He tried not to look at Ventus during breakfast.

Sora wasn't allowed to visit Tower Town. The others could if they wanted to but they always stayed to play with Sora. Outside of the tower was an area big enough to run around in. They tried not to play with balls much because they either ended up in Tower Town or in the forest. It was hard to get stuff back from Tower Town. It was nearly impossible to get anything back from the forest because the evil trees liked hanging onto stuff.

Playing inside the tower had a lot of rules though. They weren't allowed to run, yell, jump, or even throw balls. Master Yen Sid said they should read or play puzzles while they were inside. Books were cool and all, but they weren't how Sora wanted to spend his time.

After lots of attempts to decide the genre of the day, they had settled for blocks. No one ever got hurt playing with blocks.

Sora sat and watched. Naminé drew an idea for the stack then Xion and Roxas started building it. Sometimes they asked Sora to hand them a block, but they mostly had it. Naminé sat next to Sora and showed him her sketchbook. She'd started drawing buildings in town and showing them to Sora.

"And that's the bakery," she pointed at it.

"There's a bakery?" Sora looked at the drawing. Terra always baked everything at the Tower.

"Oh. Not anymore," Naminé turned the page. "It's a storage space now. The bakery has been closed since the family left Tower Town twenty years ago."

"Oh, right." Naminé's mind wasn't always in the present. "You know everything huh?"

"Not everything."

"Do you know," Sora knew he shouldn't ask but if anyone knew it'd be her, "what I am?"

Naminé stared at him for a moment. She furrowed her brows.

"Um," she looked down, "I don't know…"

"Oh, it's okay." It would have been nice to talk to someone about it. 

"We're done," Xion sat next to Naminé. 

"What next?" Roxas sat next to Sora.

Sora thought for a moment. “I don’t know. What about you all?”

Xion and Namine said anything was fine with them.

Roxas tapped his tail on the floor. Sometimes his tail, claws, or other varied manticore parts just appeared. Master Aqua said it was because he couldn’t control his form yet. Sora didn’t know if he could control his form or not. Yen Sid gave him a bracelet to make sure Sora never transformed on accident.

“Oh,” his tail stopped, “Let’s ask Master Aqua to open the playroom.”

Xion sat next to him. "Yea! What game?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" Sora jumped up. "Let's play Catch the Light!"

Xion crossed her arms, "But you and Roxas always win."

"We can do other teams! One of you can be with Roxas."

It got quiet.

Oh, right.

"We're not allowed to," Namine kept her eyes on her sketchbook. "Because last time---"

"It was an accident!" Roxas's ears and tail appeared.

Namine looked up at Roxas, surprised. Roxas never raised his voice at her.

"I know." She sat her sketchbook down. "I didn't mean on purpose."

Roxas turned away, "I know, sorry." He sat down, wrapping his tail around himself.

Xion sat next to him. "I'm okay, ya' know!" She showed him her arm, it was a different type of wood than the rest of her body. "It didn't even hurt and this one is even better than the first one anyway."

"Yea." Roxas didn't look at her.

"Roxas," Xion tried to touch him, but he moved away.

Sora frowned. Everyone felt bad now.

Namine stood up, "If we get the older kids to play with us, maybe we can make different teams."

"Yea," Roxas stood up. Xion did too. "Let's get them!"

Sora didn't  _ not _ want to play with the older two, but they were probably busy. When he told the others this, they just looked at him. Then Roxas told Xion and Namine to get Ventus while he and Sora got Vanitas.

"Master Aqua!" Roxas ran up to her. She was mopping. Vanitas was sitting on the stairs. "Can you open the playroom, please?"

"The playroom, huh?" Master Aqua lifted her hand so all the water on the floor formed a bubble. "What game are you playing?"

"Catch the Light, but I don't wanna team up with Sora!"

"Roxas," she frowned, "You know---"

"I know! But what if the big kids play with us? They could make sure no one gets hurt!"

She thought for a moment. "I think that could work… Hey, Vanitas---"

"I'm not a babysitter!"

"We're not babies!" Roxas growled.

"Could've fooled me."

Sora could see Roxas's anger level rising.

"You don't have to," Sora stepped between them.

"Exactly," Master Aqua nodded. "No one is going to make you do anything you don't want to."

Sora looked at Roxas. "I can think of a different game."

"Okay…"

Vanitas crossed his arms. "Fine. Whatever. I'll do it!"

Roxas cheered and dragged Sora back to the playroom door. Vanitas and Master Aqua followed behind them. As they arrived, Xion and Namine returned with Ventus. Master Aqua split them into two teams of three. Vanitas was in charge of Roxas and Xion. Ventus was in charge of Sora and Namine.

Sora wasn't sure how the playroom worked exactly. Master Aqua did some magic and opened the door. She could open it to a bunch of different places. This time it was a forest. The playroom had three rules:

  1. Don't Take Anything
  2. Don't Leave Anything
  3. Don't Go Pass the Barrier



Master Aqua created a bubble of light and released it into the room.

"First team to catch the bubble and bring it back wins," she gestured to the forest.

Roxas took off with Xion closely behind. Vanitas groaned before sprouting his wings and following after them.

Namine frowned. "They're so fast." She walked through the door. Sora stayed close to her.

"If we fly above the trees," Ventus looked up, "we can probably spot it and get ahead."

"Sora can't fly," Namine set her sketchbook in the air and sat on it. She hovered above the ground.

"I have wings!"

"But you can't fly."

Sora looked down at his feet. "I try."

"Can I see them?" Ventus walked up to him, "Um, your wings."

Sora looked up at him. "Uh…"

Ventus crouched down, so he was looking Sora in the eyes. "I'll be careful, promise."

Safety. Sincerity. It was soft and quiet, but it was there.

"Okay." Sora brought his wings out.

"Oh," Ventus stood up and walked around Sora. He touched one of Sora's wings. "They're small."

Sora's wings drooped.

"Once they get bigger you won't have any problems."

"Really?!" Sora turned to Ventus with a smile.

"Of course," Ventus tilted his head, "when they're bigger than your arm span you can start learning."

Sora's wings flapped. "How long will that take?"

"Depends." Ventus tapped his nose with his finger. "What are you?"

Sora's wings disappeared. He took several steps back. "We should get the light."

"Too late!" Roxas ran by holding it. Xion waved as she passed. Vanitas walked by.

"Wow, Ventus, you're terrible at this."

Ventus stuck his foot out. Vanitas tripped over it.

"Hey!"

"Oops." Ventus didn't even look at him.

It was weird. Neither of them seemed to be actually upset with the other. Were they play-fighting like he and Roxas did?

"We won!" Roxas called from inside.

They played a few more rounds. Roxas's team won them all. When Ventus wanted to leave to help Terra with lunch and Vanitas was tired of playing with them, they had to close the playroom. Everyone seemed to be in a better mood than before they'd gone in.

Sora stood on the step stool in front of the bathroom mirror. He stretched his arms out. His wings weren't even half the width. How long would it take?

"Mine were big enough when I was ten." In the mirror, Ventus stood in the doorway. "Same for Vanitas."

"Ventus!" Sora spun around. He tried to put his wings away. They remained.

"Um..." He looked away. If Sora focused he could tell Ventus felt something. Guilty? Sad? His feelings were so quiet that Sora couldn't quite pin it. "Terra told me you're a secret." 

"Yea…" Sora looked down. "Master Yen Sid says it'd be bad if people found out about me."

"After lunch, we can go to the library and research wing growth rate. You might see yours and you wouldn't have to tell me."

"You want to help me?"

Ventus nodded.

"Why?" Didn't Ventus dislike him?

"I used to be a secret," he finally looked at Sora, "back at the castle. It can be lonely… I had Vanitas, but you…"

"Okay!" Sora smiled. "You're saying you want to be friends, right?"

Ventus blushed, but nodded. "Uh, you can call me Ven if you want."

Sora laughed. Ven wasn't really scary at all. He actually seemed nice. They could be friends and hangout. And maybe he could get meat before breakfast.


End file.
